Leadership change at Farmers State Bank

WAUPACA – Long-time Farmers State Bank president, Laine Lazers, will be retiring at the end of the year, with the new bank president Dick Phillipsen to take over at the start of the year.
Lazers has been president of Farmers State Bank for 26 years and has been in the banking industry for over 43 years.
He started at Farmers and Merchants State Bank in Waterloo, Wisconsin where he worked for 13 years, before moving on to F & M Bank in Wautoma for three years.
After that he landed in Waupaca at Farmers State Bank where he has remained for the rest of his career, he has also had extended schooling in banking and finance throughout his 43 years.
Lazers said he will still be active at the bank as chief financial officer part time for a two-year period as well as remaining on the board of directors at the bank, so he intends to still be a part of the organization just to a smaller extent.

Lazers will remain in Waupaca, but plans to travel as he has family in La Crosse and the Sioux Falls, South Dakota area.
“I feel that this has been a privilege to serve the organization and the capacity of president for 16 years,” Lazers said. “I’ve got a great staff and great board of directors so I don’t see this transition affecting the bank whatsoever.”
Phillipsen has been in the banking industry for 35 years and of that he has been at Farmers State Bank for 23 years.
Phillipsen said he has degrees in accounting and finance, as well as graduate degrees in banking and commercial lending thanks to Farmers State Bank who sent him there.
Phillipsen agrees that the transition will be smooth and is excited to take on his new role, continuing in the strong legacy the bank has created in the community.
One of the things that Lazers said stands out about his tenure as president was how the bank was able to stay active in the community with making donations and the amount of staff volunteering at events or for organizations.
“It’s great to still have a community bank in the community that serves the community,” Lazers said. “We’ve been here for over a hundred years and our plan is to continue on.”
Some of the donations to the community over the years include a Zamboni to the hockey club, a large donation to the football field at the high school, as well as donations to scholarship foundations, the rotary club and sports within the community.
“The community supports us, we try to give back as much as we can to the community as well for supporting local,” Lazers said.
With Phillipsen taking over the bank president position Lazers does not anticipate any issues only a smooth transition into the future.
“With Dick taking over I really don’t see a lot of changes for the organization going forward,” Lazers said. “We’ve got a good team here and I think that will continue on.”